Category: Popy

Laserion was one of the easier Godaikins to pick up. I guess he was not as popular as the others. I often see the ST and DX versions of the Laserion Godaikin at affordable prices on the auctions site. Laserion was from the Anime Video Warrior Laserion a show about virtual reality, a boy and a robot that ran for two years 1984-1985. This is the 5 inch ST version. I love the heft of this thing. They made these robots with quite a bit a die cast metal.

I would have loved to see Anime with all of the Godaikin robots in them, it would be fun to see them duke it out(but I guess I can do that already by playing Super Robot Wars). I really was not a fan of these Laserion robots until I got one. I thought it was a really generic, plain, boring, boxy looking robot. I really wanted a robot with more of a face instead of just a helmet with two eyes. Initially I thought it was so blocky and not very creative.

Now that I have one I feel it is one of my better pieces. The body on the robot is great, he has a thick solid build, the paint application on the chest/body is great and does not have any issues standing. I like the color scheme and it has some nice detail on the leg etchings and arms. Still, I would like a little more detail on the head.

It is a pretty good representation robot in the cartoon. I may just have to check out the Anime on the web some where. I have the DX version of Laserion. I lent it to my cousin as he loves to display these things. I hope he dusts it.

Here is the opening credits on the anime. It does not look like much, but it is starting to grow on me after seeing the third time.

Like this:

The MachineRobo MR-10 Fire Robo is one of my favorite Machine Robos. It is one of the most simple designs, simple transformations, the straight lines, with a red and silver color scheme and make a simple looking robot. There really is nothing special about this robot. But who doesn’t like a fire engine? I wanted to be a fireman when I was younger and I have always loved fire trucks since I was a kid. So this particular robot has a special place in my heart. This is a cool little robot in a line of cool robots from Popy. The only criticism I have is the gun seems like such an afterthought. In the robots hand or even on the ladders seems a bit lame. It is just too small. Using the ladder as a weapon/gun seems just as bad as well based on what I see on the Tonka packaging.

It’s too bad the Gobots cartoon was so bad. I have never been able to force myself to watch a whole episode. I wouldn’t mind a reintroduction of the Gobots in a modernized revamp(like they did with other 80’s franchises like V and Battlestar Galactica(maybe they can make a Gobots movie since Transformers has made so much money!)). Since Hasbro owns the rights when they picked up Tonka, it would be awesome if they brought them back in a stand alone series instead of part of the Transformers. So Fire Robo did some time as Pumper in Challenge of the Gobots back in 1983-1987.

More Machine Robos to come. They keep on coming. This is number 4? It’s because I have 25-30 of these robots. Sorry you are going to see more posts about these for a while. I found the box I stored them in so I will keep pumping out posts about these till I get bored or I am all done.

Like this:

Here is the MachineRobo MR-03 Jet Robo by Popy in 1982. I actually had this robot in the 1980’s when I went to Japan. I picked it up for 600 yen in a department store in Shinjuku. I traded all my Machine Robo figures to a friend, but I can’t remember what I traded for. I am really glad I managed to pick up another. The Jet Robo is a classic robot from this line. Easy to transform, looks good as a robot and ok as a futuristic jet, solid red, black and silver color scheme. For me this is just a fun robot to have.

MachineRobo(マシンロボ) MR-03 Jet Robo(ブルー・ジェット) made in 1982 by Popy/Bandai from anime Machine Robo Revenge of Cronos 1988-1989 and Challenge of the Gobots 1983-1987 known as Fitor

Does anyone know what this comic says? I am a little curious. I am sure it is mindless drivel, but fun mindless drivel or even amusing mindless drivel is what I am hoping for. I wish I knew someone who could read Japanese. Anyway, I have always loved the attention to detail in the packaging and other things that come with Japanese toys. The robot fits perfectly in the Styrofoam and is easy to take out and put away. The toy is easy to store, the instructions, stickers and catalog all come with this beautiful little toy. In fact I was almost as excited to get the catalog as I was to get the toy. I am sure I will never have a complete set of Machine Robos, but it is nice to see them all. I know I am probably raving on about these, but the Machine Robo line is possibly my favorite.

Like this:

Here is the MachineRobo MR-02 Battle Robo by Popy in 1982. I am on a roll. 2 posts in 2 days, WOO HOO! Anyway this is some sort of futuristic tank. In fact this robot is named Tank in the Challenge of the GoBots. One of Cy-Kill’s evil dumb henchmen. I don’t get it, how can a robot be stupid? Bad AI software, low processing speeds maybe?

I like the aesthetics of the tank and the robot, but I imagine it is a pretty high profile for a tank though. I noticed I was missing the smaller guns that are supposed to come out of the front of the tank, which kinda sucks. The Styrofoam was not meant for this little bugger, so the arms will not hold in place when transformed. The colors are nice, even though I have never seen a blue army tank in real life. I guess I should not look for any realism in children’s toys, but there is always hope. The transformation is as easy as it gets. You fold the head over so he is kissing his feet and put in the guns and the turret. This is another cool robot from the Machine Robo line.

Like this:

I have been meaning to put up my each of my Machine Robo since putting up a bulk post about them a couple of years ago. This is the MachineRobo MR-01 Bike Robo, the robot who became Cy-Kill in Tonka’s Challenge of the Gobots in 1983. The cartoon was not as compelling as the story of the Transformers. For me the story was pretty much crap. Which is sad, because the 3 inch robots in this line were superior to any of the small robots in the early Transformers line. It would have been nice to see another robot cartoon that gave the Transformers a run for its money in the eighties. I really wanted to like the cartoon, but it was unwatchable for me. Which is odd, because I was able to watch a lot of the crap Hanna Barbera put out. And I loved it. There also was an anime in Japan, Machine Robo Revenge of Cronos came out several years later 1988-1989 and showed the robots as human piloted mecha. I watched a little and it reminded me a bit of the Getta Robo anime.

These originally came out in 1982 in Japan as part of Popy’s Machine Robo line. Europe had them as Robo Machine and Australia had Machine Men. It’s a great concept. Matchbox sized vehicles that transform into robots.

Machine Robo MachineRobo MR-01 Cy-Kill 1982 Popy Japan Robot

I absolutely love the packaging for this toyline. Small boxes, robots in small Styrofoam cases, with tiny accessories, stickers, a catalog of other robots in the line, and a comic with instructions to transform the robot. I just picked this up in December. The Bike Robo tends to be a more expensive piece. At least more than I would like to pay. This may be due to being the primary villain in the Gobots cartoon. The transformation from robot to motorcycle is pretty solid. The Bike Robo looks pretty good as a robot or a motorcycle. This is one of the nicer robots in the line. The design and color scheme work very well. I think I actually had this one in the 1980’s but I traded it away to a friend.

The catalogs are one of my favorite parts of the toys. I love getting these and checking out the other robots Bandai put out. I have used them to figure out other robots to pick up or just check out other robots that never made it to the US.

Machine Robo Series Catalog 1983 Popy/Bandai Japan Robot MR 600 line

Motorcycle form Machine Robo(マシンロボ) MR-01 Bike Robo(バイクロボ) made in 1982 by Popy/Bandai in Japan Robot

Like this:

So this is my Bismarck DX. I just picked it up this year. Dave got his back in the mid 80’s in Japan. It is one of the last branded Popy Chogokin super robots before Popy was reabsorbed into Bandai. The anime cartoon Sei Juushi Bismarck is a cowboy western, sci-fi frontier setting, with a super robot from 1984-1985. You may know it here as Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs from World Event Productions the same people who brought over Voltron. The ship turns into wings for the robot and you an insert the robot into the ship or you can say it transforms into a ship.

It is a nice heavy 9 inch diecast metal robot with a black and white theme, which is a welcome change from the red, white and blue sentai robots. It was not one of the must have robots from the 80’s for me, but it is a nice addition.

I have the Space Cruiser, but sadly no missiles or tank treads either. I also am missing Bismarck’s pistol. I never really cared for the cruiser converting to wings on Bismarck. The cruiser itself is a nice piece.

Like this:

Sorry I missed the Robot of the Week last week. I have been editing all the posts that you guys have been visiting every day this week. Making the images bigger and centering them, making the posts look nicer. My cousin Dave left us with photos that were only twice as large as thumbnails it seems at 220 pixels wide and just tossed into the post with no sense of order. So I decided bigger was better and went large with 350 pixels. The finish product is so much better, but I still haven’t fixed all the posts. Only the ones that are generating any visits/interest. This is time consuming work! I can definitely consider this a labor of love.

I am so excited to note we have had 1,000 visitors in 9 months! We had 500 after 7 months in February, but doubled that in just 2 months now in April Hooray! The first four months there were 79 visits and that was mainly just me and my cousin.

This site was initially just homework for me to start learning WordPress, Google Analytics, and adsense, start cataloging my robots so I would know what I have(and my cousin would know for his trip to Japan in October last year), and now I want to see how far I can take the site as traffic has continued to grow. As more and more people check out the site, it seems like others share my love of robots old and new!

Like this:

Here’s the Daimos DX from the Godaikin line, 1984. I never had this one as a kid nor did I ever see him as a kid either. After keeping a casual lookout for him, I could never find him complete for a decent price. So, I was thinking of getting the Soul of Chogokin version thinking it would be cheaper but I was always seeing him for about 250-300 online and besides, he’s not as big as the Godaikin version. I was almost tempted to buy this same robot listed on Ebay for 300 from Taiwan but I decided to wait and my faith was rewarded when I found this one for 166 and to boot, the item was being shipped from the next town over!

I am very happy to have him as I paid a decent price for a robot that wasn’t exactly a must have AND he’s complete! The ones I was looking at were missing fists, swords etc. Anyway, I’ve reached out to this seller to see if he has other things he might be interested in selling and as well, it would be cool to find another person who shares my interest in these toys. I’m getting closer to completing the Godaikin collection – Tetsujin 28, God Sigma, and Valvilos are the remaining ones left.

I was very tempted to buy him at the time but I had already bought quite a few toys and this would have really put me over my budget. I then kept an eye out on Ebay and missed out on one for 125 buy it now last month and was kicking myself. Luckily this one came up and I managed to win him for 300 dollars. A little steep but still much cheaper than when I have seen him since this one was loose, one of his antennas is broken and he doesn’t have the weapons. Still, I’ve very glad to have this piece since he’s just so hard to find.

Like this:

Here is my Godmarz Custom. Ok, I’m getting close to completing the Godaikin collection! The only ones left are GodSigma, Tetsujin 28(aka “The Holy Grail”), Daimos, Dancougar, and Vavilos. While the Godmarz Custom one isn’t the same size as the Godaikin version, I’m still quite happy to have this as I got this one for a very, very good price (133 dollars) since one of the little robots was missing one of his arms. You actually don’t need it to make the big robot. Otherwise, he’s all complete. I had to take a pix of my cousin helping me to put this robot together via Youtube video because all the joints were so tight and we didn’t want to take the chance of breaking the toy. Found out you can watch the anime on Hulu.